Sunderland City Council's cabinet has approved £12m in additional spending on its city centre dual carriageway, as it seeks to appoint a main contractor.
Phase 3 of the Sunderland Strategic Transport Corridor (SSTC) is a dual carriageway from the southern bridgehead of the forthcoming Northern Spire Bridge through Pallion, Deptford and linking into St Mary's Boulevard in the city centre. (Artist's impression of the project below).
The council’s cabinet met on Wednesday (20 June) to consider the process that will lead to the appointment of the main contractor for the road, as well as approving an additional £11.8m towards the works.
In advance of the meeting, Cllr Amy Wilson, the council's cabinet member for environment and transport, said: ‘All aspects of the SSTC are key parts of our city's future. By updating our highways and transport networks we improve connections between our communities; we have a better flow of goods and services into and across our city; we open up more land for new development, and we create opportunities for more investment and job creation.
‘The Northern Spire's completion is imminent and this council's cabinet is now looking to the next steps in our city's development with this important dual carriageway.’
The dual carriageway project, which received planning permission in October 2017, aims to create a new gateway into the city centre and help open up more land for regeneration.
It was previously costed at around £60m and was due to be funded with £42.1m from the Government and prudential borrowing of £16.9m.
However, the latest estimates put the cost of the scheme at £70.8m following more detailed designs, and with the inclusion of costs of land acquisition and for infrastructure support, such as utility diversions.
The report to the council's cabinet stated that the extra cash can found from an underspend on the Northern Spire project (pictured below) and central government transport grant allocations.
The council said that subject to the cabinet decision and further permissions, works on diverting utilities and site preparation could begin through the summer and that the appointment of a contractor would allow full works to begin in 2019.
It has previously said that finishing works on the cable stayed Northern Spire Bridge, which includes a 105m-high central A-frame pylon, are underway and that it is expected to be open to traffic early in the summer.
The SSTC programme is in five phases:
- Phase 1 - St Mary's Boulevard in the city centre (completed)
- Phase 2 - Northern Spire and approach roads
- Phase 3 - City centre and dual carriageway links
- Phase 4 - Wessington Way improvements between the A19 and the Northern Spire
- Phase 5 - St Mary's Boulevard to the Port of Sunderland.
